Just last week, Tesla Motors revealed the all-electric Model X crossover, which is the follow-up to its Model S. It has been less than a week since the EV's introduction, and it has already achieved star status with car lovers everywhere.

According to The Detroit News, Tesla received $40 million in pre-sales of the all-electric Model X just one day after unveiling the car. It was also the third most searched term on Google.

"On Thursday evening, the night of the reveal, traffic to teslamotors.com increased 2,800 percent," said Tesla. "Two-thirds of all visitors were new to the website."

The all-electric Model X was introduced for the first time on February 9. The new EV features dual motor all wheel drive, the choice between a 60 or 85 kWh battery, and falcon doors. The Model X can sprint from 0 to 60 in about 4.4 seconds, and offers a rear-mounted 300 HP motor and an optional 150 HP front-mounted motor. The driving range is between 214 and 267 miles.

Price hasn't been announced for the Model X yet, but Tesla said it will be competitively priced with other premium SUVs.

While the Model X has been receiving plenty of attention, it's not the only one. The Model S, which is Tesla's full-sized battery electric sedan that is expected to be delivered in mid 2012, had a 30 percent boost in reservations last week after the Model X was revealed.

Tesla initially entered the electric vehicle arena with the Roadster, which is a $100,000 two-seater that launched in 2008. The Model S is Tesla's second electric vehicle, which features a 40 kWh lithium-ion battery pack (or 85 kWh battery pack in the top-end model), 160-mile range (300 miles on the top-end model), and a $57,400 to $87,400 price tag.

Model X production will begin at the end of 2013, with market launch scheduled for 2014. It is expected to qualify for the $7,500 tax credit, and Tesla hopes to produce 10,000 to 15,000 units annually.

Well... In theory at least spurring the development of EV tech will either give viable alternatives for a world where the oil supply is cut off for some random reason, or help Doc Brown create a new DeLorean time machine that can have both the time circuits and the drive-train powered by Mr Fusion.

We need rich people to buy EVs so that a nationwide network of charging stations can be built. Once the basic charging infrastructure is in place it will make sense for normal people to buy electric vehicles, which by the way, will get cheaper due to the R&D money spent on the high end cars.

That makes NO sense and isn't how things get adopted. Rich people have several cars. When using an EV isn't convenient, they will just use another. So they have no reason to care about chargers being everywhere. Rich people can also afford the best chargers for their own personal use.

Unless there's no benefit for the majority, rich people using EV's are NEVER going to be anything more than a niche status statement.

quote: We need rich people to buy EVs so that a nationwide network of charging stations can be built.

This wouldn't happen even if EV sales matched those of sports cars. The really wealthy (the people buying Tesla's), typically don't keep their cars very long (ever check the mileage on a Ferrari?) cause they don't have to. Even their "beater" cars are niche. Niche cars don't get fueling stations, dealerships, cell phone antenna's along the side of the freeway or even the freeways themselves built. It's the millions of Corolla's that accomplish that task. The only thing that will be done is the lightening of our wallets to pay for these people to drive EV's. Nothing else will come of it. Once the wealthy tire of this latest fad (and they will), they'll move on and Tesla will be out of business.

LOL yeah by EV proponents logic, we should all be driving Ferrari's by now. After all, they've had decades of early adopters paying premiums so one day we can enjoy those toys too! Dammit, where's my Enzo!!??

quote: Once the wealthy tire of this latest fad (and they will), they'll move on and Tesla will be out of business.

Exactly. Once the Leonardo DeCaprio's of the world get their pre-order, then what?

quote: Exactly. Once the Leonardo DeCaprio's of the world get their pre-order, then what?

I'll be surprised if they even fulfill all of their orders. But, nevermind that for a second. I'm still stuck on these people believing that there's going to be a $20k EV (2010 dollars) showing up in the next 5 years.